Christ figures in literature?

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Bulbasaur05 said:
That is an interesting quote by Oscar Wilde. I wonder why this is the case so often. There is a prevalence of Christ-figures in a secularized (nowadays) society.
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One can be a hero in one of two ways - by sacrificing oneself (or more accurately, offering oneself up for sacrifice) to achieve a greater good, or by outperforming one’s adversaries in the quality of one’s attributes. - one can be stronger, or smarter, or faster, or trickier than everyone else.

Which is more interesting?
 
Arizona_Mike said:
One can be a hero in one of two ways - by sacrificing oneself (or more accurately, offering oneself up for sacrifice) to achieve a greater good, or by outperforming one’s adversaries in the quality of one’s attributes. - one can be stronger, or smarter, or faster, or trickier than everyone else.

Which is more interesting?
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The mortal sacrifice appeals to our poorly-concealed horror of death.

I prefer the other version, though.

It seems every adventure-drama film since 2001 if not before has someone sacrificing themself for a higher good or love interest; I for one am getting tired of it.

ICXC NIKA
 
This may sound crazy at first but…Mac in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. He arrives at the hospital on Christmas, is betrayed by one of his friends (Billy) who eventually kills himself, receives a “crown of thorns” (shock treatment/lobotomy), and offers his people freedom (Chief). The play has more of these elements than the movie.
 
NeedsMercy said:
This may sound crazy at first but…Mac in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. He arrives at the hospital on Christmas, is betrayed by one of his friends (Billy) who eventually kills himself, receives a “crown of thorns” (shock treatment/lobotomy), and offers his people freedom (Chief). The play has more of these elements than the movie.
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Huh. Never thought of that before, but you’re right.
 
After I became more serious about my faith in college, I turned almost every character from every story for every English class into a Christ-figure for my papers. :o It was hard for me not to see Catholic/Christo-centric themes every where I looked.
 
Joe_5859 said:
After I became more serious about my faith in college, I turned almost every character from every story for every English class into a Christ-figure for my papers. :o It was hard for me not to see Catholic/Christo-centric themes every where I looked.
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This is me with TV, music, and movies.
 
NeedsMercy said:
This may sound crazy at first but…Mac in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. He arrives at the hospital on Christmas, is betrayed by one of his friends (Billy) who eventually kills himself, receives a “crown of thorns” (shock treatment/lobotomy), and offers his people freedom (Chief). The play has more of these elements than the movie.
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Very nice.👍
 
Bulbasaur05 said:
That is an interesting quote by Oscar Wilde. I wonder why this is the case so often. There is a prevalence of Christ-figures in a secularized (nowadays) society.
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Perhaps it’s because we humans need Christ, and look for him in substitutes if we don’t know the real one.
His story is the greatest eucatastrophe ever told; the more I think about it, the more splendid it seems. The Creator of the universe, loving his creations so much that he becomes one of them, rejected and killed by them with the collusion of the enemy, resurrected finally in victory over death. He lets us share in his victory and gives us eternal life. . . It’s an amazing story. Christ’s humility, courage and compassion are amazing, yet he remains wholly human.
Put any of those elements into a book and it makes it better, because the truth resonates with us.
 
One could halfway make the case for Billy Budd, in the Melville novel.

He is a morally innocent young man who is put to death to maintain the letter of the law; and as the noose is tightened, rather than kicking and choking, he “ascends” peacefully.

Only halfway however, as IMS his death does not “redeem” anybody.

ICXC NIKA
 
I also always wondered if the character of Psyche in C.S. Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces” was supposed to be a Christ-type figure.
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👍 But so is Maia.

Remember, Maia bears the anguish and the turmoil in place of Psyche, enabling her to achieve her “tasks”. Also, when she cannot offer refuge to the Prince owing to the danger to her kingdom, Orual/Maia herself becomes his deliverer, taking on his enemy in battle. And finally takes him into her family via marriage to her sister.

Remember, at the end, she hears, “You also are Psyche.”

ICXC NIKA.
 
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